Wheat support price expected to increase

PM forms five-member focus group to address reasons behind increase in food prices in Punjab

LAHORE: Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has given his go-ahead to increase wheat support price to Rs1,400 per mann. Per sources, the wheat support price was increased from Rs1,200 to Rs1,300 in 2015, but had remained unchanged for four year since then. Following the prime minister’s approval, the Federal Ministry for National Health Protection has prepared a summary for increasing the price, which will be presented at the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) for official approval, next week.

The prime minister has also formed a five-member focus group headed by retired federal secretary Abbas Mekan, in a bid to learn about the reasons behind the increase in food prices in Punjab. The focus group is also tasked with the duty to ensure the availability of food and to design an effective method to stabilise food prices in the province. Federal Minister for National Food Security Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar will also preside over the focus group’s first meeting, to be held this month in Lahore.

In addition to that, the meeting will also be attended by the chief secretary Punjab, as well as secretaries of the provincial departments including retired federal secretary Seerat Asghar, Additional Chief Secretary Punjab Shaukat Ali, Chairman Pakistan Agriculture Research Council Dr Muhammad Azeem Khan and Federal Ministry of National Food Security Consultant Dr Mohammad Ali Talpur, Provincial Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht, Federal Secretary National Food Security Hashim Popalzai and Chief Secretary Punjab Azam Suleman Khan. Others invited to the meeting included members of the finance, agriculture and food departments, as well as industry secretaries and commissioner Rawalpindi. The group’s first meeting is scheduled to take place on February 10, at the Chamber of Agriculture on Davis Road.

Anticipating future complications of the wheat procurement drive,  especially after the Punjab government’s reservations and the recent wheat flour crisis, the Federal Ministry of National Food Security had put forth the recommendation to fix wheat support price at Rs1,400 per mann, in a briefing to the PM.  However, two months ago when the Punjab government had put forth the same recommendation, it was opposed by several members of the finance ministry, as well as the ECC. Based on the reaction, the wheat prices were raised to Rs1,350 and later surged to Rs1,365 by the next week.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2020.